Net Gains: January 24, 1996 - one of Lyndon Cerejo's published articles

Do you subscribe to TIME magazine ?? I don't. Or let me put it this way - I don't need to, because I have the latest copy at my disposal - anytime I need it. In fact, I've just finished browsing through the issue dated January 22, 1996. O.J. Simpson, and Mrs. Clinton were among the newsmakers in this particular issue. The best part of the magazine I've been through is that unlike normal magazines, a reader doesn't have to follow a linear pattern while reading it. When I wanted more information on the O.J. Simpson story, all I had to do was click my mouse, and I was transported to a site where I could get my eyes on anything and everything I could ever want to know about O. J. Simpson. And I mean everything - right from the CNNs reportage, details about the trial, an OJ calendar listing events from the night of the crime to the present, details of the crime, and even the transcripts of the entire case. I could, if I wanted to, express my opinions about the entire event on the OJ Bulletin Board. If you're zapped, wait till you hear this - there was a 2MB (2 Million bytes) Quicktime Movie of the athlete-actor's "not guilty" plea to the court. I could download (copy) this movie to my computer, and play it at leisure to see and hear him make the delivery of his life. This is the OJ Central site. While I normally would have read the paper version of TIME magazine within an hour, I spent hours over the Internet version, never really completely going through the whole issue. Wanna look it up ?? Just click your mouse here

There is also an Internet edition of THE HINDU, marketed as "the first complete Indian newspaper on the World Wide Web, offering weekly news about India and the world". Weekly back issues right from June 4, 1995 are also available for reference at this site. Each issue of the on-line HINDU carries national & international news, editorials, advertisements, classifieds, cartoon strips, reviews, and even crosswords with/without solutions. They say that everything has its disadvantages - as I soon discovered - my dear raddiwallah is now wiped off the recycling scene (and so is the moolah I used to get from him !!) Sigh !!

These are just two of hajaar of mags available on the Internet. There's a whole catagory for "nerds" as they call them - magazines on electronics, computers et al. Then there are those that cater to singles, lesbians, homosexuals gays, mechanics, and sportsmen( for sports ranging from golf to fishing). Then there are magazines that are based on the entertainment industry - a whole lot of them ranging from movies to television, and music. But without doubt, the most accessed magazines are those that cater to some of our baser desires - the sleaze stuff .

The Penthouse , Playboy, or Hustler that you pay Rs.25 as "reading" charges on the footpaths near V.T. (Oops ! Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus - a mouthful !) are now available on-line. And these are some of the milder magazines available on the Net. Blatantly listed, are others with names like "seXXXcitment", which leave little to the imagination as far as their contents go. A few weeks after VSNL gave us the Internet, Radio MidDay featured an interview with Pritish Nandy (the guy behind CyberCafe). He had apparently started a signature campaign to show VSNL their support in restricting access to pornography. Which, though it may appear of no use, did hold some meaning. Because, no sooner had the Internet "arrived" than the media begun concentrating on the possibility of it being misused for pronography. It would be a real pity if the powers-that-be decided to suspend, or worse still, stop the Internet services, because of the hulla -gulla raised. There however, is software available to monitor access to certain sites, and even restrict access. If implemented, this may amount to censorship, but is better than cutting off the advances in technology. Let's keep our fingers crossed that that doesn't happen to us.

	Net Gains (Jan 24, 96)
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